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PS3 Preview - 'ModNation Racers'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2009

Genre: Racing
Publisher: SCEA
Developer: United Front Games
Release Date: TBA 2010

Play, Create, Share: three words that catapulted Sony back into the systems race, as they challenged the Microsoft and Nintendo lineups with one word: LittleBigPlanet. With the kinds of physics and adjustments that you could make as you built your own levels, and the wrapping of simple, wonderful charm, Sony created a hit to challenge many. At this year's E3, they've shown that they hope to replicate that success with ModNation Racers.

Play. ModNation Racers is a twist on normal kart racing archetypes; player stats are

X360/PC Preview - 'Left 4 Dead 2'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2009

Genre: First-Person Shooter
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Valve Software
Release Date: November 17, 2009

When Left 4 Dead 2 was announced at Microsoft's press conference last week, cheers went up from the crowd to celebrate the arrival of the sequel to the phenomenally successful zombie-smasher on the Xbox 360 as an exclusive title. It turns out that exclusivity had only extended as far as the console space because on the first day of E3, I managed to get a taste of the gory zombie-slayer on the PC.

A mission from the main campaign was available, and this

PS3/X360/PC Preview - 'Brink'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2009

Brink is an immersive shooter that blends single-player, co-op, and multiplayer gameplay into one seamless experience, allowing you to develop your character across all modes of play. You decide the role you want to assume in the world of Brink as you fight to save yourself and mankind's last refuge for humanity.

PSP Preview - 'Steambot Chronicles Battle Tournament'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2009

Genre: Fighting
Publisher: Atlus
Developer: iRem
Release Date: June 30, 2009

Steambot Chronicles has become a significant series for Atlus. It's not a massive property that defines the company, like Shin Megami Tensei, but it's certainly a nice series that has a significant fandom. If what I saw was any indication, the PSP release of Steambot Chronicles: Battle Tournament should turn out to be fairly satisfying for fans.

Steambot Chronicles: Battle Tournament is slightly smaller in scale than other games in the series; it only encompasses one very large town and the areas around it. In a

X360/PC Preview - 'Alan Wake'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2009

Set in the deceptively idyllic town of Bright Falls, Washington, Alan Wake places gamers in the role of the best-selling suspense author, Alan Wake. He escapes to this small town to recover from the mysterious disappearance of his fiancée. In Bright Falls Wake comes face to face with his darkest nightmares.

PSN/XBLA/PC Preview - 'Droplitz'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2009

Genre: Puzzle
Publisher: Atlus
Developer: Blitz Game Studios
Release Date: June 2009

Atlus Software is starting to break into the casual space with several of their recent releases, such as manic puzzler Puchi Puchi Virus. However, one of their latest works breaks into the grand tradition of slow-paced, ultra-casual games meant to relax and inspire just the right amount of thinking. I spent some time at E3 demoing the PlayStation 3 and iPhone versions of Droplitz, but it's also coming to the Xbox 360 and PC.

Droplitz is a fairly basic puzzle game, somewhat reminiscent of PopCap's

X360/PC Preview - 'Section 8'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2009

Section 8 is a futuristic first person shooter that brings strategy and tactics to the genre in a game where players can modify the battlefield on the fly. In Section 8 you are part of an elite infantry squad with a penchant for taking on suicide missions that no one else will tackle.

X360/PC Preview - 'Darkest of Days'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2009

Genre: First-Person Shooter
Publisher: Phantom EFX
Developer: 8Monkey Labs
Release Date: TBA

Time travel and its paradoxical twists have always been popular tools for fiction to use as convenient foils in wrapping up loose threads or in creating new ways in which to create the same. The adventure game Timequest, from now-defunct developer Legend Entertainment, casts you as a time agent sent back to pivotal moments in history in order to correct subtle changes that another renegade agent had left behind. The Journeyman Project series had also explored the same approach, and in both, you could screw

Wii Preview - 'Shiren the Wanderer'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2009

Genre: Role-Playing
Publisher: Atlus
Developer: Chunsoft
Release Date: Q1 2010

Mystery Dungeon: Shiren The Wanderer was a roguelike for the Nintendo DS, with most of the trappings thereof (when a character dies, all items are lost, etc.) The game has had several console releases in Japan, and now the third is coming to the U.S. for the Wii. At E3, they were showing attendees a demo of the Japanese game and explaining everything to those who were interested.

The basics of Shiren the Wanderer are your standard roguelike. The game even features two difficulty levels, with a hardcore mode

PS3/X360/PC Preview - 'Alpha Protocol'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2009

Genre: Role-Playing
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
Release Date: October 2009

Stealth and adrenaline-soaked action are part of the spy genre's hallmarks, whether it is in trying to stop nuclear annihilation in Metal Gear or in slipping past enemy security by climbing along the outside of a cruise ship in Splinter Cell. Obsidian Entertainment is now set to shake up these conventions with a spy-based RPG that includes the combat, stealth, and plenty of options to allow a player to mix James Bond and Jason Bourne into the ultimate black ops agent.

While most spy games only have

PS3 Preview - 'Demon's Souls'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2009

Atlus U.S.A. has secured the North American publishing rights for Demon's Souls, a groundbreaking PS3 exclusive action RPG experience. Beautiful, compelling, and unforgiving, Demon's Souls is the hardcore RPG experience PS3 fans have been waiting for.

Wiiware Preview - 'Redneck Chicken Riot'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2009

Genre: Shooter
Publisher: City Interactive
Developer: City Interactive
Release Date: Oct. 2, 2009

Shooting should be one of the most generic genres on the Wii. Just look at all the gun-shaped items that have already been sold, and consider that some of the Wii's gem titles have included House of the Dead games. But the more I think about it, I haven't seen that many. As City Interactive's most complete game that isn't near release date yet, Redneck Chicken Riot is odd, perhaps inspired by Wallace & Gromit, but with a confusing idea of its very own.

The game is a pretty

PSP Preview - 'Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman!'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2009

Genre: Role-Playing
Publisher: Nippon Ichi Software
Developer: Ride On
Release Date: July 1, 2009

Before we go any further, let's listen to that little voice of Robin in our heads. You know you want to. Now, wonder who at Atlus decided this would be a name to trademark. Imagine that the title fits the actual game just enough to be even more hilarious. Just three minutes convinced me that Atlus has invested wisely in a game that truly captures its name like few other games on market. I mean, a lot do better and a lot

Wii Preview - 'Deca Sports 2'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2009

Genre: Sports
Developer: Hudson
Publisher: Hudson
Release: Q4 2009

Sports-based mini-game collections might be the most specific genre you can get to on the Nintendo Wii and still find a metric ton of competing products. Wii Sports, Big League Sports, EA Playground and, of course, Deca Sports are just a few examples of the area and how crowded it can be. Now, Hudson's giving its work a sequel with Deca Sports 2, and they were showing it off at E3.

Fortunately, they've added several new ideas to the series to match with the 10 new games. Not only will

'Tatsunoko vs. Capcom' (Wii) Developer Interview

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Pre - E3 2009

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom pits Capcom's iconic characters against Tatsunoko Production's anime superheroes. This clash of heroes face off in two-on-two battles for the ultimate 2D tag-team battle. During the E3 madness, we sat down with Capcom's senior communications director, Chris Kramer.

WP: Who has the honor to speak with us? State your name, rank, and occupation!

I'm Chris Kramer, and I'm the senior director of communications and community at Capcom.

WP: One of the big announcements for E3 was the fact that Tatsunoko vs. Capcom is coming to the U.S. and Europe. What was it like getting that brought over? We kept hearing

PS3/XBLA/PC Preview - 'Trine'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2009

Genre: Puzzle/Platformer
Publisher: Nobilis
Developer: Frozenbyte
Release Date: July 2009

On the surface, Trine is not a difficult game to understand, as it is essentially a puzzle game in which you can switch on the fly between three varied characters. However, the basic puzzle mechanics and characters are mere underpinnings for the meat of the physics-based gameplay and cooperative play. The co-op was not present in our preview build, but the physics most definitely are, along with a surprisingly developed theme and production values for a puzzle title.

The three characters in Trine all have varied roles and

Wii Preview - 'New Super Mario Bros.'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2009

Genre: Platformer
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Release: Q4 2009

Nintendo came out of E3 2009 much stronger than they did in 2008. They started off our booth tour with their big announcement of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and I got to squeeze in some play time with the game.

If you've played the DS version of New Super Mario Bros., most everything is going to be familiar, including major elements of Super Mario Bros. 3 from the NES era, new and entertaining power-ups, and a fair supply of secrets to keep things interesting for a good, long

Wii Preview - 'Wii Sports Resort'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2009

Genre: Sports
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Release: July 26, 2009

Before you read any further about Wii Sports Resort, go do a bit of bowling in Wii Sports. Notice the subtleties that are there in the simulation, and those that aren't. The Wii Remote, ultimately, is limited, and many of those limits have been removed with the recent introduction of the Wii MotionPlus, which links to Wiimotes to let you do more with them. While it is launching with two EA Sports titles for Wii, the MotionPlus clearly seems custom designed for the upcoming Wii Sports

Wii/PS3/X360 Preview - 'The Beatles: Rock Band'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2009

Genre: Rhythm/Music
Publisher: MTV Games
Developer: Harmonix
Release: September 9, 2009

How can a game be both so much more than its predecessors, and yet so much less at the same time? This conundrum defined what I saw of the upcoming Rock Band release, The Beatles: Rock Band. The game floored me as a Beatles release, but its heritage as a Rock Band game seems a bit tenuous.

The basics are all there; this is Rock Band, with one significant evolution and some major interface modifications that I'll get to in a bit. The big new idea

NDS Preview - 'Scribblenauts'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2009

Genre: Puzzle
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive
Developer: 5TH Cell
Release Date: September 15, 2009

5TH Cell is perhaps the best DS game developer that no one has heard of. They've only developed a few games, but those games have been fun and innovative, making excellent use of the DS' various features to create games that would not be the same anywhere else. Drawn to Life was a platformer designed around creating your own character, while Lock's Quest was a combination tower defense and hack-and-slash game. Their upcoming game, Scribblenauts, is easily their most ambitious to date, and